I don't have a nice fence at all on my cheap saw, but I have been eyeing a new ridgid 4512 or a used grizzly TS. What are the advantages of a Biesemeier fence over the newer fences that come on a decent saw? For me, a self squaring fence would be a dramatic improvement.
It really depends on each individual fence, since Grizzly makes a couple of decent Biese clone fences, it'd depend on which Grizzly saw/fence you're referring to....most of their recent saws have offered pretty decent fences IMHO. There are always pros and cons with each fence, and some will like one more than another for a variety of subjective reasons.
The Biese was the original of the welded steel t-square type fences to hit the market....it's goof-proof parallel-everytime front locking system revolutionized the industry, and is now the most highly copied design out there. The R4512 has an aluminum dual locking fence that has a split front rail. The only advantage of a split front rail is smaller packaging...from a performance perspective, it's always a disadvantage because it will never be as seamless as a single piece rail. Aluminum is lighter weight than steel, which could be a benefit, but its also softer and not as stiff, so it's more prone to flexing. For it to be as strong as a steel tube, they'd have to make it considerably thicker, which costs more. The Biesemeyer fence is welded to the t-square head...even using thicker aluminum doesn't add the strength of the welded steel, so they need to use a more elaborate mounting system, which again costs more to make it comparable to a steel Biese style fence (which they don't achieve at this price point). To offset the flex of the thinner aluminum, they use a dual locking system in front and back. The dual locking system is more prone to being locked down out of parallel when the fence is moved (two points to align vs one), whereas the Beise single lock T-system will lock down parallel every time without fail once setup correctly. Some will argue that the Beise style single locking front allows the back to flex more, which is true, but it should be a fairly small amount....more importantly, the vast majority of lateral pressure that's incurred during a cut occurs before the blade where there is no discernible flexing from a Biese type fence, so yanking on the back end proves nothing relative to real world use. A better argument against the single locking system like the Biese uses, is that the tail can lift during some operations...it's been rare IME, but the tail can be clamped for those occasions. There are some scaled down versions of a steel Biese design with smaller tubing on some saws (Jet Proshop, some of the Griz hybrids, Laguna Fusion, etc) ....still plenty strong, and operate on the same goof proof principle, but they're not quite as robust. Overall, the Biese and it's better clones should be much more robust, more precise, easier and more pleasant to use the a cheaper aluminum fence like the one on an R4512, but it's subjective.
Here's an older "Jet Fence" next to a Biese Commercial fence (note the bolts on the Jet aluminum fence....it was a single lock t-square design, but it had a lot more flex than a Beise type):
Here's the Shop Fox Classic (full size Biese clone), and other good copies:
Here's a couple t-square (Biese style) fence with smaller tubing (one with a two-piece rail):
Here's a Ridgid R4512 fence:
Here's the stock fence on the PC270TS:
